Two Former World Oratorical Participants are 2021 Rhodes Scholars Since its founding, Optimist International has made it its mission to assist and encourage the growth of the youth in communities across the globe, including scholarships that help support them to carry them to success later in life. For Trey Cumberbatch and Melissa Mueller, former World Oratorical participants, they have continued their success in being named 2021 Rhodes Scholars. The World Oratorical contest is oldest, ongoing scholarship program in Optimist history. The contest is designed to showcase the value of self-improvement of the youth. Children under the age of 19 are able to submit a speech to a local club on specific topic for that year. From there, the contest is conducted at the Club, Regional, and District level, until reaching a first-place winner worldwide. In 2016, the World Oratorical championship began being held at Saint Louis University.
Trey Cumberbatch is from Barbados and competed in the World Oratorical Contest, winning the Barbados Zone contest and placed second in the Caribbean District Finals. He has been selected as the Rhodes Scholar for the Commonwealth and the Caribbean. The 23 year old will be attending Oxford University next year researching Evidence Based Social Intervention and Policy Evaluation. In 2018, he graduated from the University of the West Indies Cave Hills Campus and has been a Lecturer there parttime.
